Hat-display rack.



No. 810,421. PATENTED JAN. 23, 1906.

G. KOBHLER.

HAT DISPLAY RACK. urmouron FILED 3.24. 1905.

VV/TNEESES:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAT-DISPLAY RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 23, 1906.

Application filed April 2 1905- Serial No. 257,116.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES KOEHLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hat-Display Racks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to supporting racks or stands of the class employed in stores upon counters or in windows for displaying mens,

womens, and childrens hats.

The ob ect of my invention is the provision of an apparatus of this class that is simple and efficient in its construction and opera e611} easily adjustable to suit the angle at which it is desired to display the hat, and so shaped as to adapt its resilient grippin -arms to be easily compressed with one hand or the purpose of being inserted within the crown of a hat, thus rendering the other hand free to hold and arrange the hat thereon.

A further object of my invention is to provide means at suitable points on the surfaces of the resilient arms whereby the crown of a hat placed thereon is frictionally engaged to prevent its slipping one way or the other on the rack.

The invention is fully described in the fol lowing specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure'l is a perspective view of the rack comprising my invention supported on a stand, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rack removed from the stand and showing in dotted lines the outline of a hat-crown with which it is engaged.

The rack comprising my invention consists of the two correspondingly-shaped resilient arms A A, which when secured together in inverted positions, as hereinafter described, form a substantially U-shaped member having the terminals of its arms bent outwardly and back upon themselves and the connecting portion of said arms formed centrally with an inwardly-projecting tongue adapted to connect with an elevating-stand. The arms A A are formed at their inner ends with parallel fingers a a, which are secured together at a distance from their inner ends by a rivet b or other suitable means. Slightly beyond this point the fingers a a each change at an abrupt angle to the oppositely-extend ing portions 0 c, which gradually curve out wardly and upwardly until each merges in the substantially straight portion (Z, which portions continue a short distance in slightlyconverging relation and then turn outwardly and downwardly upon themselves to form the terminals 6 6, adapted to press against the inner walls of a hat. The fingers a a at their free ends are spaced apart, as shown, to form a fork for receiving the two coacting clamping members f f, which are pivotally mounted on the bolt 9 and made easily adjustable by the provision of a winged nut g on said bolt. The outer ends of the clamping members f are oppositely concaved, as shown at h, or otherwise suitably shaped for gripping a rod or other supporting element '5.

When a rack is placed in the crown of a hat, the outer surfaces of the portions 0 c and the ends of the terminals e e are the points in contact with the hat, and as these surfaces are smooth and would not therefore firmly hold the hat against a sliding movement thereon it is found very important to provide these points with frictional contactsurfaces of a material, for instance, such as rubber. This is accomplished by securing a 'band 3' of rubber or other suitable material around the portions 0 c and providing the terminals e 6 with the tips k, of a similar material. To further prevent a slipping tendency of the contacting parts, the bands j have their outer surfaces formed with one or more lugs or projections Z. If desired, a rubber boss m may be secured to the lower side of the rack by having its shank engaged between the coacting faces of the fingers a a, as shown.

It will thus be seen that the rack comprising my invention is formed with the two resilient arms A A, which may be easily compressed by the forefinger and thumb of one hand to enable it to be inserted within the hat-crown, after which the resiliency of the arms causes them to diverge and firmly grip opposite sides of the crown, while the bands on the portions 0 c firmly grip on one end thereof. It is also apparent that the rack may be tilted in any desired position by simply adjusting the position of the clamping members ff.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. A hat-display rack, comprising a substantially U-shaped member having resilient arms and its lower connecting portion formed with an inwardly-projecting tongue, and a clamping member adjustably secured to said tongue for engaging a supporting element.

2. A hat-display rack, comprising a substantially U-shaped member formed of resilient material and having its arm-terminals bent outwardly upon themselves and formed centrally at their lower connecting portion with a rentrant tongue, and an adjustable support-clamping member secured to said tongue.

3. A hat-display rack, comprising a substantially U-shaped member having resilient arms disposed in slightly-converging relation and each terminating in an outwardly and rearwardly bent portion and formed centrally of its arm-connecting portion with a rentrant tongue, and a support clamping member secured to said tongue.

4. A hatdisplay rack, comprising a sub stanti ally U-shaped member having resilient arms disposed in slightly-converging relation each terminating in an outwardly-extending portion and formed centrally of its arm-connecting portion with a reentrant tongue, said tongue having its free end forked, and a support clamping member adjustably secured within the fork of said tongue.

5. A hat-display rack, comprising a substantially U-shaped member having its arms terminating in outwardly-bent portions and formed centrally thereof with a reentrant said tongue, and tips and bands of rubber or the like secured to the points of said member having contact with a hat.

. 6. A hat-display rack, comprising the two correspondingly-shaped resilient arms A, A, secured together in reverse positions to form a substantially U-shaped member having a reentrant portion, 'and a support-clamping member adj ustably secured to said reentrant portion.

7 Ahat-display rack, comprising a stand, a clamp for engaging said stand, a resilient arm pivotally secured to each side of said clamp thence extending rearwardly in parallelism a short distance, thence changing and extending outwardly and forwardly in opposite di rections and terminating in abutments adapted to press against the inner walls of a hat.

8. A hat-display rack, comprising a substantially U-shaped member having its arms terminatng in abutments adapted to press against the inner walls of a hat and formed centrally of the connecting portions with a rentrant tongue, a support-clamping member secured to said tongue, rubber tips on the terminal abutments of said arms, and rubber bands on the lower portions of said arms hav ing their outer surface formed with projections.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto -signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES KOEHLER. Witnesses:

CORNELL SOHREIBER,

C. W. OWEN.

tongue, support-clamping means secured'to 

